Scientists trace half the DNA in Xinjiang’s oldest tombs to Yellow River farmers
Nestled between the Tianshan Mountains and the Gobi Desert, the Hami oasis in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is a land of little rain, battered by wind and sand year-round. It is also home to the region’s oldest known burial site, the Tianshanbeilu cemetery, located around 500km (310 miles) east of Urumqi, the regional capital. More than 700 Bronze Age tombs have been unearthed here, long…
In the remote Hami oasis of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, nestled between the Tianshan Mountains and the Gobi Desert, lies the Tianshanbeilu cemetery, home to the region's oldest known burial site. Over 700 Bronze Age tombs have been discovered there, traditionally attributed to Eurasian nomads migrating east from the steppes.
However, a groundbreaking study published in the journal Science challenges this notion, revealing a genetically mixed population that inhabited the eastern Tianshan region around 3,600 years ago during China's Shang dynasty (1600-1050BC). The study, led by Fu Qiaomei of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, utilized whole-genome data from 135 ancient individuals across 11 sites within the cemetery, combined with 735 published ancient genomes and 2,850 modern samples.
The researchers discovered that roughly half of this Bronze Age population's ancestry traced back to millet-farming communities along the Middle and Late Neolithic Yellow River (around 4000-2000BC), while the other half descended from Chemurchek-related populations in the Altai and Dzungaria regions. This genetic intermingling occurred nearly 1,800 years prior to the historic Silk Road, underscoring deep prehistoric foundations for trans-Eurasian mobility and exchange.
The Tianshanbeilu cemetery contains circular tomb chambers with burial objects such as bronze and pottery, dating back between 3,000 and 4,000 years. The genetic analysis revealed that the Bronze Age population of the eastern Tianshan region was genetically closer to modern East Asians than other ancient Xinjiang populations, yet also carried a mix of both Eastern and Western Eurasian heritage.
The oasis town's location as a crossroads for travelers moving between east and west, coupled with its thriving agriculture, fostered a unique genetic mix resulting from interactions with grassland nomadic cultures and East Asian crop cultivation.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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